Nikon Corporation

Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Kazumasa Endo

Yutaka Suenaga

Kazuo Ushida

Hitoshi Matsuzawa

Toshihiro Sasaya

Hideki Obara

Kinya Kato

Susumu Mori

Hiroyuki Hiraiwa

Koji Shigematsu

Makoto Uehara

Yukio Kakizaki

Akitoshi Kawai

Kazuhiro Nakagawa

Masaaki Mochida

Hiromasa Shibata

Misako Kobayashi

Shuhei Takagi

Daisaku Mochida

Toru Yoshikawa

Yasuhisa Matsumoto

A defect inspecting apparatus inspects defects of a sample having a pattern formed on the surface. The defect inspecting apparatus is provided with a stage which has a sample placed thereon and linearly moves and turns; a light source; an illuminating optical system, which selects a discretionary wavelength region from the light source and epi-illuminates the sample surface through a polarizer and an objective lens; a detecting optical system, which obtains a pupil image, by passing through reflection light applied by the illuminating optical system from the surface of the sample through the objective lens and an analyzer which satisfies the cross-nichols conditions with the polarizer; and a detecting section which detects defects of the sample by comparing the obtained pupil image with a previously stored pupil image. Conformity of the pattern on a substrate to be inspected can be judged in a short time.

Polarized light defect detection in pupil images

A defect inspection device and an inspection method which can decide the quality of a pattern shape of a sample surface in a short time are provided. A defect inspection devicethat inspects a defect of a substrate (wafer) on which a repeated pattern is formed includes an illumination optical systemthat has an objective lensand radiates light from a light sourceonto the repeated pattern formed on the wafervia the objective lens, a detection optical systemthat detects an image of a pupil plane of the objective lensproduced by diffracted light of a plurality of orders caused by the repeated pattern and a detection sectionthat detects a defect of the repeated pattern of the waferfrom the pupil image obtained.

Defect inspection device and defect inspection method

A method of manufacturing an optical member includes a crystal growing step and a carving step. The crystal growing step includes melting a mixture of fluoride powder and a scavenger at a melting temperature of a melting point for the fluoride and above, and then crystallizing the melted fluid and further cooling down an obtained fluoride crystal in a temperature range from 1000&#xb0; C. to 900&#xb0; C. by a temperature decreasing rate in a range from 0.1 to 5&#xb0; C./hr. The carving step includes carving an optical member out of the fluoride crystal obtained in the crystal growing step such that the optical member is made of a fluoride crystal in which a maximum diameter dof scattering bodies existing internally and a quantity nof the scattering bodies per 1 cmsatisfy a condition represented by the following formula (1):0(cm). &#x2003;&#x2003;(1)

Optical member, method of manufacturing the same, and projection exposure system

A high-performance projection exposure apparatus and method which can adjust optical characteristics which are rotationally asymmetric with respect to the optical axis of projection optical system and which remain in the projection optical system. In exemplary embodiments, the projection exposure apparatus includes an illumination optical system, a projection optical system and a plurality of optical elements. The illumination optical system illuminates a first object, and the projection optical system projects an image of the first object onto a second object under a predetermined magnification. The optical elements are set between the first object and the second object, and has rotationally asymmetric powers with respect to an optical axis of the projection optical system. Consequently, the optical elements can correct an optical characteristic rotationally asymmetric with respect to the optical axis of the projection optical system remaining in the projection optical system.

Projection exposure apparatus and method with adjustment of rotationally asymmetric optical characteristics

An optical member of the invention is an optical member for photolithography used together with light having a wavelength of not more than 250 nm. The optical member is made of a fluoride crystal in which a maximum diameter d(cm) of scattering bodies existing internally and a quantity nof the scattering bodies per 1 cmsatisfy a condition represented by following formula (1):0&#x3c;&#x3c;6.5&#xd7;10(cm)&#x2003;&#x2003;(1).

Optical member and method of producing the same, and projection aligner

Optical member for photolithography and method of evaluating the same

A method of manufacturing an exposure apparatus includes a step of providing a projection optical system that projects a pattern image formed on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate. Additionally, a surface of a correction member having a predetermined thickness is locally tooled or processed in order to correct random aberration that remains in the projection optical system. The tooled correction member is arranged between the mask and the substrate, irrespective of the mask. Furthermore, when the projection optical system is provided, an aberration caused due to the predetermined thickness of the correction member is taken into account in advance.

Method of manufacturing and using correction member to correct aberration in projection exposure apparatus

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus having a high-performance projection optical system having a relatively large numerical aperture and achieving bitelecentricity and superior correction of aberrations, particularly distortion, in a very wide exposure area. Particularly, the protection optical system according to the present invention is composed of a first lens group G.sub.1 with a positive refracting power, a second lens group G.sub.2 with a negative refracting power, a third lens group G.sub.3 with a positive refracting power, a fourth lens group G.sub.4 with a negative refracting power, and a fifth lens group G.sub.5 with a positive refracting power in order from the side of a first object R. The present invention is directed to finding of suitable ranges of focal lengths for the first to fifth lens groups G.sub.1 -G.sub.5, based on the above arrangement.

Exposure apparatus

Projection-optical systems are disclosed for projecting an image of a first object M onto a second object P. Each such projection-optical system comprises, in order from the first-object side: a positive first lens group; a negative second lens group comprising a pair of negative lens elements forming a pair of concave surfaces facing each other; a positive third lens group comprising a lens element, positioned nearest the second object within the third lens group, having a concave surface facing the second object; an aperture stop; a positive fourth lens group comprising a lens element, positioned nearest the first object within the fourth lens group, having a concave surface facing the first object; a negative fifth lens group comprising a pair of negative lens elements that form a pair of concave surfaces facing each other; and a positive sixth lens group. The projection-optical systems satisfy any of several quantitative conditions.

Projection-optical system for use in a projection-exposure apparatus

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus using a projection optical system to realize a small size and the bitelecentricity as securing a wide exposure area and a large numerical aperture and to realize extremely good correction for aberrations, particularly for distortion. The projection optical system comprises a first lens group G.sub.1 with a positive refracting power, a second lens group G.sub.2 with a negative refracting power, a third lens group G.sub.3 with a positive refracting power, a fourth lens group G.sub.4 with a negative refracting power, a fifth lens group G.sub.5 with a positive refracting power, and a sixth lens group G.sub.6 with a positive refracting power in order from the side of the first object R, wherein the second lens group G.sub.2 comprises a front lens L.sub.2F with a negative refracting power, a rear lens L.sub.2R of a negative meniscus shape, and an intermediate lens group G.sub.2M disposed between the front lens and the rear lens, and wherein the intermediate lens group G.sub.2M has a first lens L.sub.M1 with a positive refracting power, a second lens L.sub.M2 with a negative refracting power, and a third lens L.sub.M3 with a negative refracting power in order from the side of the first object R. The system is arranged to satisfy within suitable ranges of focal lengths for the first to sixth lens groups G.sub.1 -G.sub.6, based on the above arrangement.

Projection optical system and exposure apparatus using the same

A projection exposure apparatus on which are placed a reticle whose pattern is comprised of an area transmitting a radiation therethrough and an area not transmitting the radiation therethrough and a substrate includes a projection optical system for projecting the pattern formed on the reticle onto the substrate, the projection optical system being telecentric on the substrate side, a device producing a radiation beam for alignment of the reticle and the substrate, an alignment device for supplying the radiation beam onto the substrate through the reticle and the projection optical system and detecting the relative positional relation between the reticle and the substrate through the projection optical system, a device for imparting displacement to the projection optical system to the position of incidence of the radiation beam onto the projection optical system by the alignment device, a device for outputting a position signal conforming to the relative position of the optic axis of the projection optical system and the position of incidence, and a deflecting device responsive to the position signal to deflect the angle of the principal ray of the radiation beam entering the projection optical system so that the telecentricity of the projection optical system on the substrate side is maintained.

Projection exposure apparatus

An optical path length compensating device comprises a first objective having one focus coincident with a two-dimensional plane and provided for movement along the two-dimensional plane, a second objective having one focus coincident with a predetermined focal plane, first and second reflecting means provided in the optical path between the first objective and the second objective for movement along the optical path, the first reflecting means including at least one reflecting surface for turning the optical path from the first objective by a predetermined angle in a plane parallel to the two-dimensional plane, the second reflecting means including at least one pair of reflecting surfaces for directing the light from the first reflecting means to the second objective, means for moving the first objective and the first reflecting means in operative association with each other, and means for moving the second reflecting means so that the other focus of the first objective and the other focus of the second objective are coincident with each other.

Optical path length compensating optical system in an alignment apparatus

An optical alignment apparatus with an image-forming optical system for forming an image of an object by means of a light beam and detection means for detecting the position of the object image comprises a collimator lens group for converting the beam coming from said object and having the principal rays intersecting the optical axis into a collimated beam and a condenser lens group for condensing the collimated beam. The condenser lens is so disposed that its optical axis is substantially coincident with the principal ray of the collimated beam from the collimator lens group. In the optical alignment apparatus, the principal rays of the beam passed through the condenser lens group perpendicularly fall on the focal plane of the condenser lens group, and after passing through the condenser lens group, the principal rays pass through the central area of every optical element.

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Kazumasa Endo